Up to the present, one of the most common problems golfers constantly faced was having to struggle with all the other clubs in their golf bag while searching for the correct club to use on the next golf shot. Products currently on the market that made an attempt to organize or protect golf clubs have limited practical benefits and unsubstantiated product longevity.
The most prominent product golfers find in today's market consists of many long tubes inserted into a golf bag. One example of a golf club protector consisting of many tubes is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,547 (the '547 Patent), issued Mar. 25, 1980. This prior art design uses a combination of tubes and spring clips to hold the golf clubs in place. Although there are racks suited to suspend the golf club heads, it is the chips which grip the golf club shafts that hold the golf clubs in place. Although this combination of tubes, spring clips and racks may be effective, it is also heavy and expensive to produce. In contrast, the present invention eliminates the need for tubes completely and combines the rack and spring clip into one securing device.
Another solution to this problem of lack of organization within a golf club bag, has been to suspend the heads of the golf club from a rack. U. S. Pat. No. 3,503,518 (the '518 Patent) granted Mar. 31, 1970, provided a solution to make the clubs immobile. The '518 Patent disclosed a peripheral upper blade holder portion of resilient material which wedgably engaged the lower portion of the head of the golf club. To provide immobility, a second, lower shaft holder portion was used in conjunction with the blade holder rack. The invention claimed herein eliminates the necessity of two separate devices, one to suspend the club and the other to keep the club secure.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,849,610 (the '610 Patent), granted Mar. 15, 1932, attempts to use a single system to both keep the club secure and to suspend the club. The solution disclosed includes both an inner and outer ring which contain notches upon which the heads of the golf clubs are rested. When the golf bag is tilted over or used for travel, however, the clubs may easily fall out of their notches. This is because the notches do not hold the club securely enough to prevent the club from escaping.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,687 (the '687 Patent), granted Feb. 24, 1948, also attempts to use a single device to both suspend the golf club and to secure the golf club in position. The '687 Patent discloses a wedge-like rack with finger-like upward extensions. The golf clubs are supported by these fingers which have been tapered to fit the head of the golf club. Although these fingers provide adequate support for securing the clubs during usage, a guard rail or a strap is needed to eliminate club disengagement in the event that the golf club bag is upended or used for transporting the golf clubs.
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved golf club securer and organizer. The invention suspends golf clubs from their heads so that either the butt or handle portions of the clubs rest at the bottom of the golf bag. Alternatively, using the rod and clamp configuration to adjust the height of the frame, the clubs are suspended to relieve the handle portions from weight tending to warp them. The head of each club is secured in place by a single securing device which, unlike the prior art, is able to hold the golf clubs so that even if the bag is upended or used for travel the clubs will remain in place. Since the golf club head securing devices may be individually formed for securing a specific golf club, each club is easily located in its proper position within the frame. The stem-like formation of the frame has two major advantages. The first is that all the clubs may be seen at a glance. Another advantage is the attractive formation of the club heads aloha the perimeter of the bag. The central holding unit holds clubs such as the woods and the putter. By holding these clubs in the center of the unit the golf bag always remains in balance. Finally, for attachment to the rim of the golf bag a series of clamps and rods may be used. This has the advantage of being adjustable to fit any size bag and any size set of golf clubs.